Qantas Frequent Flyer members flying Oneworld partner airlines LAN and TAM will be having their earn rates adjusted. The changes, which was notified in the April Points statement takes effect from June 6 for LAN flights, and October 1 for TAM flights.
The most significant changes will occur at the cheaper end of the economy fares, with the earn on some fares dropping as far as just 0.25 points per mile flown.
LAN
The current earnings table is
| Economy | Premium Economy | Business | First | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Booking Class | BGHKLMNOQSVY | WP | DIJ | AF |
| Points Base earn rate (per mile or 1.609km) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Cabin Bonus | – | 10% | 25% | 50% |
For travel on or after 6 June, 2015 it becomes
| Deep Discount Economy | Discount Economy | Economy | Premium Economy | Business | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Booking Class | AGNOQ | LMSVX | BHKY | PW | CDIJZ |
| Points Base earn rate (per mile or 1.609km) | 0.25 | 0.50 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Cabin Bonus | – | – | – | 10% | 25% |
TAM
For TAM, the current earning rates are:
| Economy | Business | First | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Booking Class | BEGHKLMNQSUVW*Y | CDJZ | AFP |
| Points Base earn rate (per mile or 1.609km) | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Cabin Bonus | – | 25% | 50% |
For travel on or after 1 October, 2015 it becomes
| Deep Discount Economy | Discount Economy | Economy | Premium Economy | Business | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Booking Class | AGNOQ | LMSVX | BHKY | PW | CDIJZ |
| Points Base earn rate (per mile or 1.609km) | 0.25 | 0.50 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Cabin Bonus | – | – | – | 10% | 25% |
Discussion
For the Qantas Frequent Flyer there are wins and losses in the tables. For some of the cheaper fares, there is a significant drop in points earning. For the very cheapest currently earning fares, earnings drop to one quarter of there current earning.
On the other hand, some of the discount economy fares that currently do not earn anything at all, enter the tables, albeit on the low end of the earnings.
Part of the change seems driven by resturctures of ticketing my the merged LAN/TAM operations. For example First Class is disappearing. This same change is reflected in the tables of other oneWorld partners. For example, American Airlines is changing its earn tables on the same dates to reflect these changes.
However, the changes go further with the deep downgrades in earning rates. This reflect a growing trend among airlines, and particularly the Qantas Frequent Flyer program, to more closely match points earning with the revenue the gain from selling the ticket.